Out of the few kinds I've had so far, I haven't really cared for whatever fruity or floral taste any of them have had, but I have liked whatever oat or wheat taste they've had. I'm probably wrong, but from what I understand, the former is a characteristic of "hoppy" beer while the latter would be of a "malty" beer. Given that, is there a particular style I'd prefer?

Well, there's different kinds of fruitiness. Usually the brighter, fresh fruitiness is a hoppy character though the Belgian-style wheats - wits - usually have quite a bit of lemon in the taste, while the German-style wheats - hefeweizens - have banana and a fruity bubblegum flavor. Dark fruitiness - think dates and figs - is more of a dark malt character while apricots and peaches - dried or otherwise - can be a product of lighter malts and Belgian yeast. The oat or wheat is... Well, a characteristic that comes from using oat or wheat in the brewing of the beer. Oat is quite rare except in certain kinds of stouts called oatmeal stouts. You might wanna try those if you spot any. Goose Island's is good. Wheat is mostly used in wheat beers of different styles. You can usually tell by the name. Lancaster Milk Stout might be something you can find (Pennsylvania, right?) that might be up your alley. In general, I'd say the lower ABV stouts and porters as well as amber ales (though some of these are strongly hopped) and bocks might be something you'd like. More malt-forward beers those at least in general, though being in the States, everything tends to get hopped pretty boldly. Besides that, you might wanna try Victory's pils-style stuff, might be your thing or not. In general Victory, Weyerbacher and Tröegs do good stuff from your state - if it's Pennsylvania. I think you can find Oskar Blues cans there too. They do good stuff as well, though their strength lies more in the hoppier stuff as well as stronger beers.

It's very nice. I haven't had the Torpedo IPA though. Had it on tap at the Breakfast Creek Hotel yesterday at lunch. Thought it was better from the bottle to be honest, but I might have been a bit biased - they had Vale Ale on tap as well (which by the way I thought dominated the bottled version!).

In other news, recent beers are Monteith's Brewing Co,'s Brewer's Series IPA (drinking it now, a very pleasant brew though I think for an IPA it could use a bit more of a bitter hop kick on the end) and Little Brewing Co.'s Mad Abbot Tripel - a shameless Australian rip of Westmalle Trappist Tripel. Not up to the original, but still a very nice beverage.

I've disregarded dubbels previously as decent, but uninteresting brews - good with darker meats and stews, but they can be pretty good too, when you're not in the mood for the large amounts of alcohol and complexity usually found in dark Belgian strong ales as well as quads.

Regarding RB and BA, you can find me under this moniker at both though I don't think I've ever written anything to the latter. It's too America-centric. RB is quite guilty of that as well, but at least there's a sizable - and prolific - international - mostly Scandinavian - minority.

I've disregarded dubbels previously as decent, but uninteresting brews - good with darker meats and stews, but they can be pretty good too, when you're not in the mood for the large amounts of alcohol and complexity usually found in dark Belgian strong ales as well as quads.Regarding RB and BA, you can find me under this moniker at both though I don't think I've ever written anything to the latter. It's too America-centric. RB is quite guilty of that as well, but at least there's a sizable - and prolific - international - mostly Scandinavian - minority.

I REALLY enjoy dubbels lately.I realized about those two websites recently but never really used them.

Let me know, if you decide to register on RB. As for Floreffe, I could've told you that! They're not really that good, though their wit was alright, as far as wits go.

Uhm... I don't think so. I'm quite lazy to describe the beers and my english does not help!I have been asking for beers similar to the Affligem Dubbel and the guy at the shop uses to recommend me similar ones but I have not found something so unique.

I'm on BeerAdvocate under the same name as here, but haven't reviewed anything recently.

Tonight's beers are:

Lagunitas IPA - sweet IPA with a certain west coast hop sweetness, I'm not sure what variety it is but it's a balanced and tasty IPA with one pronounced hop flavor. Heavy Seas Loose Cannon - one of the most drinkable and best IPAs on the east coat, it's an exceptional and very drinkable IPA with a grapefruit/hop taste that I can't pinpoint anywhere other than in this beer.New England Brewing Co. 668: The Neighbor of the Beast - metal as fuck and a local brew. Great heavy Belgian ale with a lot of candy sugar and malt sweetness and spices like white pepper, among others. Narragansett - New England beer, it's a regional classic, nothing exceptional.

If you don't mind, what would you consider to be more of a beginner's beer? Having only had a couple of brands, I'm not very experienced at all in beer, but I would be interested in trying a relatively wide variety to see if there's anything that appeals to me.

Well, like Mac indicated, "beginner's beer" is pretty broad. Generally, the easiest/least offensive beers you will find are going to be Belgian wheat ales (also known as white ale, witbier, wit, wittebier or similar variations) or German wheat beers (variously called hefeweizen, weissbier, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, doppelweizen, and kristalweizen). Stay away from so-called Berliner Weissbier for now, you might think they taste like feet. Anyway, these are generally light-bodied and well-carbonated beers ranging from straw-yellow to a pale orange, with the exception of dunkelweizen (literally, "dark wheat"). German wheats typically have lots of clove and banana flavors from the yeast they use, the darker ones might have some bread or chocolate flavors. Belgian white ales almost always have oranges and coriander fermented with the beer, so expect similar flavors. White ales are popular amongst people who don't like beer, so they're obviously pretty easy. Any German or Belgian wheat will have minimal hop bitterness.

Good American examples of Belgian white ales are Allagash White and Ommegang Witte. Unfortunately, most American attempts at German wheat beers are laughable, though Sierra Nevada Kellerweis is pretty good. Otherwise, you'll have to go for the imported stuff....I like Paulaner Hefe-Weiss, Ayinger Ur Weiss and Ayinger Brau Weiss. I probably spelled at least one of those wrong. See if yu can find a freshness label, these beers are generally best within six months of being brewed.

There aren't that many brewed here, but I really like English-style brown ales. American takes are usually too hoppy. Expect chocolate, caramel, maybe even some walnut-esque flavors. Goose Island Nut Brown is about the only American-made English brown I can think of, shouldn't be too hard to find. If you want to go the slightly bolder route, look out for some of the weaker stouts/porters out there, particularly oatmeal stouts and cream/milk stouts. Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Left Hand Milk Stout, Sam Adams Cream Stout, Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald, Rogue Shakespeare Stout, Rogue Chocolate Stout, are all pretty tasty. I'd have to know more about why you didn't like Chicory stout before recommending these though.

With the exception of doppelweizen and weizenbock, everything I just mentioned should be in the 4% to 6.5% alcohol range; doppelweizen/weizenbocks are generally between 7% and 9%.

Another, more expensive option would be Duvel. Be wary, it's 8.5% alcohol but drinks like a 4% pilsner.

_________________It's always the halos and the wings that keep you blind.

Zodijackyl wrote:

nobody believes your bedroom black metal band is actually a woman in Iraq

Does anyone have some recommendations for good bourbon barrel ale? I loved Dragon's Milk but can't get it in Iowa so I'd like to find something in the interim.

I can't remember if Central Waters was in Iowa when I lived there. If it is, both Peruvian Morning and Bourbon Barrel Stout are pretty awesome. I know Iowa gets Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout, but it hasn't been released since November so it's probably all sold out by now.

In other news, I just tried Lagunitas Sucks! Brown Shugga' Substitute Ale for the first time last night, though my pallate was a bit fucked by then. Was quite tasty. Still probably prefer the Brown Shugga' it was intended to replace, but they're totally different beers.

_________________It's always the halos and the wings that keep you blind.

Zodijackyl wrote:

nobody believes your bedroom black metal band is actually a woman in Iraq

On stout (well, darker brews in general) I started on the old reliable Cooper's Best Extra Stout. For the non-Aussies out there it's widely described here as tasting of "coffee and burnt stick" and to be honest, that's probably true. A very distinctive and strong flavoured stout. I bloody love it!

On stout (well, darker brews in general) I started on the old reliable Cooper's Best Extra Stout. For the non-Aussies out there it's widely described here as tasting of "coffee and burnt stick" and to be honest, that's probably true. A very distinctive and strong flavoured stout. I bloody love it!

There's a stout British ale called Mackeson XXX that you would probably enjoy. It's so dark and thick it looks like tar, and it has a really burnt coffee/molasses flavour. It makes the darkest types of Guiness look like child's play.

Went to a cool little hole-in-the-wall pub last night which had a rather nice selection of craft beers available, and here's what I had.

Moo Brew Hefewiezen. This is an Australian take on a German style wheat beer, and does a pretty good job. The grains are apparent as soon as you pour this, with a nice smooth flavour and finish. I rather liked it.

Moo Brew Dark Ale. THIS was gorgeous, with excellent malt and coffee tones, with a wonderful dark colour. Very nice beer.

Matso's Mango beer. This was okay I guess, but was a trifle sweet and reminded me of a passionfruit soft drink. More of a beer for people who don't really like beer.

Feral Hop Hog IPA. This was another quite good hop driven beer with bags of strong flavour. Rather tasty.

I also had a Vale Ale IPA, and Bezerko, this shit is freakin' awesome! The more I drink it the better it becomes. I just wish we had somewhere up here that has it on tap.

Generally, the easiest/least offensive beers you will find are going to be Belgian wheat ales (also known as white ale, witbier, wit, wittebier or similar variations) or German wheat beers (variously called hefeweizen, weissbier, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, doppelweizen, and kristalweizen).

What?!? Where are you from?!?Belgian beers would be the easiest ones for a beginner?

Earthcubed wrote:

Another, more expensive option would be Duvel. Be wary, it's 8.5% alcohol but drinks like a 4% pilsner.

Duvel s nice but, again, I would NOT recommend it to a beginner.

Something quite interesting happened to me in those last 2 weeks.I started to buy Affligem Dubbels from a supermarket near where I live cause it's 1,58 € a bottle while it's 4 € a cup of 0,33 cl, really) in the local pub.So, I have been buying and drinking those beers at home (quite occasionally) till this last one set I bought (5 beers that seem to have date of 10/05/14)The problem is that those last beers have a COMPLETELY different taste comparing to those bought before (last one is 10/5/14 too!).This kind of beer fermentates again in the bottle till it's drink but... is it possible to be SO different?!?I'm amazed!

Well, there's different kinds of fruitiness. Usually the brighter, fresh fruitiness is a hoppy character though the Belgian-style wheats - wits - usually have quite a bit of lemon in the taste, while the German-style wheats - hefeweizens - have banana and a fruity bubblegum flavor. Dark fruitiness - think dates and figs - is more of a dark malt character while apricots and peaches - dried or otherwise - can be a product of lighter malts and Belgian yeast. The oat or wheat is... Well, a characteristic that comes from using oat or wheat in the brewing of the beer. Oat is quite rare except in certain kinds of stouts called oatmeal stouts. You might wanna try those if you spot any. Goose Island's is good. Wheat is mostly used in wheat beers of different styles. You can usually tell by the name. Lancaster Milk Stout might be something you can find (Pennsylvania, right?) that might be up your alley. In general, I'd say the lower ABV stouts and porters as well as amber ales (though some of these are strongly hopped) and bocks might be something you'd like. More malt-forward beers those at least in general, though being in the States, everything tends to get hopped pretty boldly. Besides that, you might wanna try Victory's pils-style stuff, might be your thing or not. In general Victory, Weyerbacher and Tröegs do good stuff from your state - if it's Pennsylvania. I think you can find Oskar Blues cans there too. They do good stuff as well, though their strength lies more in the hoppier stuff as well as stronger beers.

Sorry for the late reply, and you're correct in guessing that I'm from Pennsylvania. I'd picked up the Lancaster Milk Stout last week, and while I liked it better than the Dogfish Head I'd had previously, I think I actually preferred Walt Wit. Though I do kind of think I might have liked it better if I had it with food.

Telling people to go for wheat beers as their "beginners brew" sounds a little strange to me. I love me some beer but the distinct wheat flavor is far from my favorite.

There are lots of "easy drinking" things you could start with but they'll still all taste pretty different. From wheat beers to English milds to porters, stouts and Belgian abbey ales...you've really gotta try a few styles out before you find what you're interested in. It's sort of like metal; it's not necessarily true that a "metal newbie" is going to like some sort of accessible power metal more than he'd like accessible death metal. Different strokes and all.

I've had some good stuff lately. Had a bottle of that Guinness Generous Ale - their Christmas brew. It's really like an English dark mild, though maybe a bit stronger than is standard. Very tasty though, and had a distinctly Guinness-ish creaminess to the mouthfeel.

Also had some of Boulevard Brewing's Dark Truth stout. Very good stuff, lots of dark stone fruits in the flavor, helped along by the Belgian yeast which tucked some estery goodness into the huge roasty malts.

Finally, I've been really taking advantage of the miserable weather to sip on some Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout. Extremely dark, pretty potent coffee and chocolate notes. Even the head on this one was dark as hell. A dessert beer for sure.

I prefer the Wee Heavy but the regular Scottish Ale ain't nothin' to scoff at! I wish I could drink Belhaven every day but unfortunately it's somewhat expensive here (you can expect to pay $7-8 for a bomber or $16+ for a sixer).

@ unaustralians. Belhaven's a nice brew. I mixed up export diet with a few Indian Indian Pale Ales (as far as I can tell, they do IPAs, and the brand name is Indian, so...) when I was at a post rock gig on Friday and man I was impressed. Really hoppy, almost like that Sierra Torpedo Extra IPA I go on about, but the semi-fruity hop bitterness in this one was divine, so many flavours. Then some little creatures courtesy of my dad @ the family house. A good mainstay, awesome pale ale and you can see why they're getting almost macro-brew sized over here

I prefer the Wee Heavy but the regular Scottish Ale ain't nothin' to scoff at! I wish I could drink Belhaven every day but unfortunately it's somewhat expensive here (you can expect to pay $7-8 for a bomber or $16+ for a sixer).

I much prefer the Wee Heavy also but it is a lot more expensive. This one is only £1.50 which I guess is about $2.

Hehe, it's always rich to hear Aussies whine about how everything in their country is so expensive in a roundabout, sarcastic way. "Haha @ Americans bitching about seeing a small metal band's headlining tour but having to pay $30! I paid $4,995 to see Asphyx play a ten minute set opening for Suicide Silence! HAH!"

All Belhaven brews are about the same price, here. It's all in the import tax.

As far as I can tell it's just in the area of beer and concert tickets but whatever man, it's valid, haha! $16 is as cheap as a six pack gets here generally, although cartons are a fair bit cheaper-per-beer. yesterday I went to a concert that I paid $165 for and spent $40 on 5 cans of bad macrobrew beer. True story.

Telling people to go for wheat beers as their "beginners brew" sounds a little strange to me. I love me some beer but the distinct wheat flavor is far from my favorite.

Usually the wheat flavor is rather understated, especially when drinking big name small wheats (i.e. not bocks or imperial wits or of that sort) in the US. Then again, my experience on the US wheats isn't very extensive and in general I'm not a big fan of wheat - except the aforementioned big styles and dunkelweizens to an extent. But still, at least in here, people who mostly drink pale, bland lager in general tend to go for the wheats (wit or hefeweizens) next. Unless they go for the dark Czech lagers. But yeah, there are those of course who don't like the taste at all. The banana, bubblegum and clove combination of German wheat beers can be very off-putting.

BasqueStorm wrote:

Belgian beers would be the easiest ones for a beginner?

Wits are fairly easy. A lot of them are very lemony and easy to quaff. Hoegaarden for example. Definitely wouldn't start offering most of the Belgian styles to beginners though.

As for Belhaven, while their Wee Heavy is good, their lighter beers I'm not too keen on, especially since they tend to be quite skunked, what with the clear bottles and all.

I'm honestly surprised that anyone would dispute my rec for wheat beers in general, and especially witbiers. The German weissbiers I can kinda see, as the yeast profile might be offputting to some.....I've just never met any of those some yet.

Anyway, got myself a bottle of this a few weeks back and I just can't seem to find the right occasion to open a 22oz bottle of thick, oily, 14% alcohol stout. It's the same thing as the classic Bourbon County, except aged in rye whiskey barrels with cherries.

_________________It's always the halos and the wings that keep you blind.

Zodijackyl wrote:

nobody believes your bedroom black metal band is actually a woman in Iraq